ITSAZOO Theatre Productions | Thinking Outside the Cage

ABOUT

“ ITSAZOO Productions has no trouble attracting that elusive group of theatergoers: the 20-somethings.” —Jo Ledingham, The Vancouver CourierITSAZOO Productions is a non-profit incorporated society and registered charity that Thinks Outside the Cage. This means that we have a mandate to:

Create opportunities for emerging artists, providing new and challenging experiences through paid professional work.
Inspire other theatre practitioners by producing progressive theatre outside the traditional playhouse setting.
Present theatre to a younger and more diverse audience by making innovative and unparalleled productions affordable to a wide demographic.
Produce new Canadian plays and adaptations that entertain and_ inspire theatre practitioners and audiences alike.

ITSAZOO consists of three co-artistic directors: Sebastien Archibald, Chelsea Haberlin, and Colby Wilson, each of whom is a graduate of the University of Victoria Theatre Programme. Since 2004, ITSAZOO has produced six full-length works including four Canadian premieres. The company has developed a reputation for productions that feature provocative writing, and display the talent of emerging Canadian playwrights. Click on a heading to read about the ZOO highlights for that year.

ITSAZOO 2004

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

ITSAZOO is founded!
Produces The Zoo Story, by Edward Albee, as part of the Director's Festival at the University College of the Fraser Valley.
In a co-production with Sour Grapes, produces Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, in which fairies lead audience members through The Finnerty Gardens at the University of Victoria.

ITSAZOO 2005

Alice in Wonderland

Returns to The Finnerty Gardens with a new adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, a promenade production wherein audience members follow Alice through Wonderland.

ITSAZOO 2006

Death of a Clown

Participates in the 2006 Victoria Fringe Festival with Death of a Clown, wriiten by Playwright-in-Residence Sebastien Archibald
Death of a Clown is chosen as a finalist in Theatre BC’s Canadian National Playwriting Competition and is showcased in Theatre BC’s New Play Festival.

ITSAZOO 2007

Grimm Tales

Produces Grimm Tales, in which Hansel and Gretel lead audience members on a walking tour of the Enchanted Forest, marking the first time Mount Douglas Park is used as a theatre venue.
Grimm Tales is awarded Best New Play for Victoria's 2007 Critic’s Choice Awards and Monday Magazine’s ‘M’ Awards.
Relocates performance base from Victoria to Vancouver with intent to engage in the Vancouver theatre community while continuing to produce theatre in Victoria.

ITSAZOO 2008

Four Course Meal/Milmish

Stages Casualties of Progress, an original play by Sebastien Archibald, at PAL Vancouver.
Remounts the critically acclaimed production of Grimm Tales at Mount Douglas Park in July, and at Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Park in August 2008, marking the first time Queen Elizabeth Park is used as a theatre venue.
Produces Four Course Meal, a festival of new works that features four new plays written by emerging artists from across the country.
Is named Vancouver’s Favourite New Company in The Westender’s review of 2008.

ITSAZOO 2009

The Road to Canterbury

Stages a newly rewritten and reworked version of Death of a Clown at the PAL Theatre in Vancouver.
Produces The Zoo Story by Edward Albee in Mount Douglas Park in Victoria and Stanley Park in Vancouver.
Returns to Queen Elizabeth and Mount Douglas Park with a modern adaptation of The Canterbury Tales called The Road to Canterbury

ITSAZOO 2010

Robin Hood

Death of a Clown

Embarks on a four-city Island Tour taking Death of a Clown to Gabriola Island, Tofino, Saltspring and Victoria
In a co-production with Enlightenment theatre brings together 9 of Vancouver’s top emerging theatre companies to create art in a parkade culminating in an event called Bridge Mix. Each company created a 10-minute piece which the audience watched promenade style. Participating companies included Tigermilk Collective, Slam Ink, Upintheair Theatre, SNAFU, Genus Theatre, Peter n’ Chris and Spectral Theatre.
Returns to Queen Elizabeth Park and The Gabriola Theatre Festival with a modern adaptation of Robin Hood by Sebastien Archibald. Audiences literally follow Robin and his band of Merry Men as they steal from the rich and give to the poor.
Participates in the Vancouver International Fringe Festival for the first time with a co production with Slam Ink of Bildungsroman by Duncan Paterson.
Death of a Clown is presented at the Spotlight on Alumni production at the Phoenix Theatre at The University of Victoria.
Bridge Mix is named Best Site-Specific Production in The Westender’s review of 2010

ITSAZOO 2011

Chairs

ITSAZOO embarks on a four-city Island Tour taking Chairs to Victoria, Nanaimo, Tofino and Nelson
ITSAZOO continues to cultivate relationships with other Vancouver and Victoria Arts associations. The company remains committed to organizing events and producing compelling theatre projects with the aim to expand its involvement in the theatre community and to encourage the individual growth of the artists involved.
In a co-production with Enlightenment Theatre brings together 9 of Vancouver’s top emerging theatre companies to create art in a parkade culminating in an event called Bridge Mix 2011.
Presents Chairs: A Parable as a part of the Neanderthal Arts Festival at the Cultch.
Creates and presents Stay Away From My Boat @$$hole at The Vancouver Fringe Festival as a part of the inaugural Onsite program under the mentorship of The Only Animal
Creates and presents Debts by Mack Gordon, a new site-specific promenade work, at the Roedde House Museum. The show plays to sold-out houses and rave reviews.